The Islamic Golden Age and the Abbasids
"Muslim artists and scientists, princes and labourers together made a unique culture that has directly and indirectly influenced societies on every continent." - Howard R. Turner
The Islamic Golden Age was of enormous importance to the development of world knowledge and technology. It came in a time when Islam and the People of the Book living under the nation of Islam were politically united and lived in harmony. As usually said, our unity has always lead to our strength and on the other hand fitna is the source of our weakness. The golden age of Islam brought about wonders to the world whether scientific, educational, architectural, medical and or any other subject one can think of. To view some of the detailed contributions the Muslim World brought go to the Islamic Inventions page.
Under the Ummayads the Muslims were so dizzy with success, by the 750th year Anno Domini, Muslim Palatial residences were spread across most of the known World. Affluence and prosperity however reached levels unprecedentedly seen under the knew rulers of the Caliphate, the Abbasids.
Thus, without further a due, the story of the Abbasids, their five century reign, and the Islamic Golden Age is depicted in the following paragraphs.
Times of Change (750-754)
Abu al Abbas Abdullah as-Saffah (the blood shedder) was the revolutionary that organized the Abbasid overthrow of the Ummayads from Khorasan, Persia. He was supported by the masses in Persia and defeated the Ummayads at the largest and most important battle of the revolution, the Battle of Zab (750).
He was proclaimed the knew Caliph, and his first move was to murder the remaining Ummayad clan in the Middle Eastern area of the Caliphate. This is when Abd al Rahman I, the head of the Ummayad House, fled the assassins to Berber North Africa to arrive in Spain five years later and revive the Ummayad leadership in a powerful and affluent Muslim Spain (See Islam and the Making of Europe (711-1215...).
The rival Muslim Spain would flourish for three centuries under the Ummayads and lead to the cultural revival of Europe, the Moorish culture of Spain would be increasingly different from the Iranian-Semitic culture that would centralize in the Abbasid Caliphate.
Abu al Abbas Abdullah as-Saffah (the blood shedder) would rule until 754 and he would consolidate the Abbasid hold of the Caliphate (besides Spain).
His successor Abu Ja'far al Mansur who ruled from 754-775 continued what his revolutionary predecessor had started by introducing administrative laws that would define the Abbasid political ideology. As the Abbasids depended heavily upon the muwalladun (non-Arab converts) to remain in power - and were aided by them during their revolution - al Mansur allowed their colorful cultures to flourish in coexistence as opposed to the conservative Ummayads who believed in pure Arabism. As a result the Abbasid culture that began to develop as reflected in science, architecture, art, poetry, music and entertainment at the time was a large mix of Greek, Roman, Persian, Arab, Berber, Turkish, Slavic and even Chinese (on the Far-Eastern frontiers) cultures.
Baghdad became the most cosmopolitan city in the world thanks to the multi-cultural stance Abu Ja'far al Mansur had taken. The Palatial city he built in Baghdad was a reflection of the riches the Muslim Empire had amassed and was comparable to the Forbidden City in Beijing. He also made the move that would save and recover Greek and Roman works that were decaying and being forgotten by translating thousands of works into Arabic. This played a large role in ensuring the preservation of Greek and Roman knowledge.
During al Mansur's reign the only evidence of political unrest came from the usual Shi'ites mainly concentrated in southern Iraq, they were hoping to remove the Abbasids and restore an Shi'ite Imamate in which the rulers of the Ummah were all blood-relatives of Muhammad*. In 762, the Shi'ite rebel leader Muhammad an-Nafs az-Zakkiyah was defeated and his revolt that started in Medina on the 6th of december was crushed by al Mansur.
Abu Ja'far al Mansur was one of the richest men on Earth rivaling the Emperor of Rome and China. He reportedly died generously leaving 600,000 Dirhams and 14,000,000 Dinars to the treasury of the Caliphate. He died on his way to Hajj in 775CE and no-one knows where his burial place is, somewhere in the trail to Hajj from Baghdad.
The third Abbasid Caliph was named and he was Muhammad ibn Mansur al Mahdi. Under him the Caliphate would see continuous Islamization, this process undeniably shows that Islam was not forced upon the people living in the Caliphate, in 754, only 5% of the Caliphate was actually Muslim. Converts converted with their own will and initiative.
Baghdad's meteoric ascendency as the greatest city in the World continued under al Mahdi who ruled from 775CE to 785CE, the most notable features of his reign was the internationalization of Baghdad, the introduction of paper, the sophistication of the Abbasid bureaucracy and the expansion of centralized Abbasid administration across the largest state on Earth.
Muhammad ibn Mansur al Mahdi extended the bureaucracy by creating new departments for taxation, administration, the army and the chancery. He lived in the palatial residence of Baghdad, a city within a city, al Mahdi was very musical and his darker skin due to his black mother was a symbol of how cosmopolitan the Islamic Empire was. Al Mahdi was notable for slamming the dualists in Islam, those who attempted to alter the true faith, he pleased the Shi'ites with his Caliphacy and constitutionalized the right of the Caliphs to have the responsibility over the religious laws.
The musical Caliph al Mahdi died naturally in 785 and his son was to take over the Caliphate for an extremely short one-year reign. Abu Abdullah ibn Mahdi al Hadi 's rule was largely overshadowed by revolts and conflict. The eldest son of al Mahdi continued the progressive reforms that his predecessors began, he was a people's man, allowing his subjects to visit him in the Caliphal courts.
The first obstacle he faced was a revolt from Husayn ibn Ali ibn Hasan who declared himself Caliph in Medina, al Hadi crushed this revolt, however a cousin of the killed Husayn ibn Ali ibn Hasan, Idris ibn Abdullah, rebelliously escaped and founded a new state within the Caliphate called the Idrisid state. The Idrisid state was on the far West in Morocco. Al Hadi then faced a full-scale invasion from the Byzantine Empire which he repelled and even conquered some of their lands in doing so. The Kharijites also rebelled and were crushed by al Hadi. In 786, after a hectic year in power, al Hadi died and was succeeded by the famous Harun al Rashid.
The Enlightened Caliph, the Titanic Caliphate,
the beginning of the Golden Age (786-809)
Harun al Rashid was one of the younger sons of al Mahdi, the younger brother of al Hadi, his rule was overwhelmingly enlightened and he became the most famous Caliph in history for that reason.
In 786, Harun al Rashid, the fifth Abbasid Caliph, ascended to power at a time the Islamic World was beginning to experience its Golden Age. Poets and writers inspired the masses with tales of romance, tragedy, power, spiritualism and philosophy. Scientists consumed with curiosity started a new age of discovery and technologically advanced the Caliphate centuries ahead of the rest of the world. Artists and musicians prospered and entertained the citizens of the Caliphate, such collective prosperity was never seen before.
Harun al Rashid lived such a fantasy in his Caliphal courts, that his life inspired many works of literature like the famous One Thousand and One Nights. Due to his knowledge in science, religion and the arts he pledged to advance education for his colossal empire, he established a scholarly monument that stood as proof of the superiority of Islamic knowledge called Bayt al Hikmah, The House of Wisdom. The House of Wisdom became the centre of
world research and intellectualism, for five centuries it became the
source of knowledge fueling the Islamic Golden Age.
Below: A painting made byJulius Köckert of Harun al-Rashid receiving the delegation of the leader of the Franks Charlemagne.
When Harun al Rashid came to power, his most important son Al Ma'mun was born, his accession saw the encouragement of relations with the rest of the known world. Harun al Rahid maintained good relations with Charlemagne the leader of the first European nation, Frankland. as well as the Chinese. The civilizations exchanged gifts and met frequently in the holy land, Harun al Rashid even sent an elephant all the way to Northern Europe along with many other never seen before gifts, which influenced Carolingian and later European art.
At only 18, Harun al Rashid led 95,000 Muslims to invade Byzantine Rome under the Empress Irene. Defeating the Emrpress' best general and advancing towards Costantinople, Harun received a delegation from Irene the Empress, she asked for peace but Harun refused compromise. Then an ambassador said that the Empress said that though an enemy she truly admired Harun al Rashid as a soldier. Harun rethought about the situation walking up and down in front of his tent, and asked that Irene pay tribute of 70,000 gold pieces yearly in exchange for absolute peace. The Empress accepted and the day when the Romans arrived with the tribute in Baghdad was declared a holiday, parades and festivals occurred and the Muslims showed the utmost honor and hospitality for the Romans.
The wars between Rome and the Caliphate continued when the Empress Irene of Byzantium was deposed and a new emperor Nicephorus, refused to carry on giving the annual tribute. Harun was furious at this act and displayed the full wrath of the Islamic armies, leading 135,000 men to invade Rome. In 806, Harun al Rashid crushed the emperor into submission, forcing him to pay 50,000 gold pieces immediately and then continue with the 70,000 gold pieces annual tribute. In 807 the city Heraklia was captured and this was just part of the massive spoils of war Harun had amassed. In 807 the island of Cyprus also fell to Harun al Rashid.
This great leader goes down in history as pious, intelligent, generous and poetic. He performed Hajj numerous times and loved to travel. In Transoxania the far Northeastern boundaries of the the Abbasid Caliphate, Harun al Rashid fell ill and died, leaving around 900 million Dirhams in the treasury of the state. On March 24th of 809, Harun al Rashid, the enlightened Caliph died.
His son al Amin ascended as Caliph according to the will of Harun al Rahid, al Ma'mun was to succeed his brother. However brother to brother rivalry turned hostile when al Amin's rule became overshadowed by fighting with his sibling.
The story of Muhammad ibn Harun al Amin (809-813)